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Volleyball
Stretching – Preparing for the Game

Read about volleyball stretching and how to
prepare for the game or
practice?

A lot of key areas
of the body can be damaged during volleyball training if not properly
stretched
beforehand. Volleyball requires pivoting, shifting weight, jumping and
twisting; the ideal motions for a strain on the hamstrings, groin,
shoulders, ankles, abs or back.

Volleyball Stretching – How to Prepare for the Game?

So what are some of the best exercises you can do before the volleyball
game to
make yourself limber and ready for that winning spike?

Before I say anything else, let’s lay down a consistent rule about
stretching:

Never stretch
a cold muscle!

It’s a seriously bad idea. The reason?

Your joints and muscles are naturally a bit more constrained when there
is less heat and blood flow. So if you jump right into a deep lateral
lunge without doing any exercise beforehand, you’re significantly more
likely to strain your groin and hamstring muscles. The increased blood
flow and heat of even mild exercise will help reduce this effect
dramatically.

The best thing to do right before stretching is a light aerobic
activity such as jogging, bicycle riding, rowing or even swimming. Just
a few minutes of motion should be more than enough to get the right
amount of heat to your muscles that you can stretch safely and
effectively.

Stretching before volleyball should always target dangerous areas such
as the ankles, shoulders, abs, back, hamstrings and groin. These are
the
muscle and joints you are more likely to damage during training or a
game.

Volleyball Stretching – Stretching Exercises before the Match or
Practice

Here are some excellent positions to practice right before a match or
practice:

Runner’s Pose: (Muscles Targeted: Hamstrings,
Groin)

Step forward in a deep lunge with your back leg straight, your back
heel up, with your toe pointed against the ground and your front thigh
about parallel to the floor. Let each arm point straight down with
finger tips barely touching the floor. For a more advanced version of
this pose, raise your arms until they point straight towards the
ceiling in a crescent pose.

Table: (Muscles Targeted: Back, Shoulders)

Sit with your hands resting on the floor behind your hips. Push upwards
thrusting your hips and abdomen towards the sky until your body forms a
table with your limbs as legs and your stomach as a table top. Hold for
a count of 15.

Wheel: (Muscles Targeted: Back, Shoulders,
Hamstrings)

Lie on the ground with your palms against the floor on both sides of
your head so that your elbows are pointed at the ceiling. Push upwards,
thrusting your stomach and groin towards the ceiling and support your
body with your arms and legs with your body in an arch shape.

Ankle Rolls: (Muscles Targeted: Ankle)

Stand and point one toe toward the ground. Press the toe against the
ground and allow the ankle to rotate in a circle with full range of
motion.

Volleyball Stretching – Three Types of Stretching

Within any stretching exercise, there are three types of stretching you
can perform to give your body a different sensation and a slightly
different kind of flexibility:

Static Stretching:

This is the most common and basic. Static stretching simply means
stretching and holding the position. A typical static stretch is safer
than ballistic or dynamic stretching and should be held anywhere from
10 to 30 seconds per exercise.

Ballistic Stretching:

Ballistic stretching means you are rebounding slightly off of the
ground to add tension to the muscle you are stretching in order to
increase limberness. Any basic stretch, such as a lateral or forward
lunge, can be turned into a ballistic stretch by simple rebounding your
weight up and down, against the ground. This doesn’t mean actually
coming off the ground as in most ballistic stretches, but simply
bouncing your weight up and down to increase the tension.